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Sub Terra is a tabletop horror-adventure game where your objective is to escape the cave before your flashlights run out or you succumb to the various hazards littered around the system. The experience was a confusing albeit an enjoyable one as well. Most of the confusion arises from the fact that My group and I didn't play many tabletop games and we had to learn the mechanics on the spot during the gameplay. Once we familiarized ourselves with the mechanics we had a little fun losing to terribly timed hazard cards and having our spawn be immediately surrounded by horrors. The game was easy to understand for a mostly video game playing audience which was great, however I still was confused with whether we were playing it correctly since we lost so often.
The game's core mechanics were easy to identify in this not-so-complicated game. You work alone or with 3 others against the game to escape the cave. The space took place on the board, where all the cave tiles and resources were present. Those resources being items like action points or health tiles to allow our characters to proceed to move about the board and do the objective, essentially allowing us to carry out the procedures while following the rules of the game. You moved in turns as tabletop game usually worked, meaning the game operated in discrete time and it didn't matter how long you took to play in the real world. Meaning you could play for 24 hours straight and still win, or lose your flashlight battery in the matter of a few minutes. Preserving the battery depended not only on skill, but also on the chances and what randomly selected hazards were chosen. It takes mental skill to know where to go and when to do so, when to risk health and action points and when to stay back. However even the best of players could be stumped by the hazard cards being activated at the worst times or being imminently entombed with 4 horrors around the cave entrance.
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Flow is a state of mind in which a person is completely immersed in whatever they’re doing. For this assignment it applies to players and their enjoyment of the video game they’re playing. It’s important on the part of game developers to catch their fanbase in a state of flow so they can retain players that will either buy more into their games or attract more attention to it. While on the other hand, for players it’s more about having fun and then being pulled into a state of flow by the game, meaning they’re really enjoying it. Reaching a state of flow is a great indication that you’re enjoying the game, if I were to be constantly checking my phone or being drawn to other, more interesting things midway through a game it’s a clear sign I’m not having fun.
Ultrakill is a game that’s really caught my attention recently. The indie fast paced platformer is a perfect mix of new and classic games, sporting the style of early 90s games but with the ultrafast advanced mobility of Titanfall and Doom. Personally, when it comes to video games I am a very stubborn individual, if someone/something beats me in a game I’ll throw myself at them until I beat them or get bored of them. This game scratches that itch perfectly, throwing increasingly difficult boss fights every layer that make me feel I’m just there. Cerberus, one of the first truly challenging bosses had me frustrated at first, I was almost thinking I had wasted money on buying the game. It was until after countless tries as an inexperienced player the joy of seeing the stone statues crumble reminded me as to why I find these challenging games fun; The sensation of pride after winning a challenge not everyone is willing to start. Victory is not the only fun this game provides, the sheer satisfaction of watching the point menu tick as you destroy hordes of demons is just as gratifying. Completionism is a given when it comes to indie games and Ultrakill is no exception (though I doubt I’d ever 100% this game). Arsi “Hakita” Patala, the sole developer of Ultrakill, succeeded in making players like me achieve a state of flow. I often find myself playing the same level “just one more time”, multiple times, in trying to P-Rank (or Perfect) the level. Human-Game interactions are vital to achieving flow. Once you get used to the rhythm of the game and know the many meta moves, your hand will dance across the keyboard while playing the game, following the rhythm without needing to stop and disrupt the flow. The simplistic UI also gives players a greater view of the area, yet also provides important information for completionists, who will also be pulled into a state of flow trying to get full S ranks on the level stats. The flow chart for Ultrakill provides some of the most notable moments in-game. Half of them are boss fights which taught me different skills in how to play. Swordsmachine, a self-upgrading robot with, as the name implies, a sword, taught me that I have to keep my distance and be constantly aware of incoming damage. V2 taught me to play aggressively and not hold back when it comes to certain engagement. V2 was an especially difficult boss for me, taking 2 days for me to beat while not even getting a good score when I finished, I was still extremely satisfied with beating him. Unlocking the full arsenal allowed me to compete in the Cyber Grind, an endless wave mode that caught me glued to trying to beat my high score. Not to mention the absolutely glorious soundtrack kept me hyped up for the next round. Finally Gabriel and V2’s rematch were some of the most difficult fights in the game, however frustrating they were, I was still glued to the screen positive I could beat them. Ultrakill is a great game that mastered the art of flow. For the first unit of this school year we learned about our career choices, game history, and ethical choices & guidelines. Although already having known about the variety of jobs available in the game industry I never personally looked deeper into it than knowing they existed, and reading how truly diverse the skillsets are for a single game really changed my perspective on game development as a whole. Concept artists and environment artists really caught my interest as possible future careers. I've always been interested in character creation and environments of video games. Taking in the surroundings and details put into some character designs has always been a subtle but huge part of my, and possibly many more, gaming experience.
We also explored not only video game’s but games as a whole’s history and how they all connect with one another. It was truly interesting to see the links of new, modern video games with board games to sports from hundreds and possibly thousands of years ago. History of video games is important because you can see what worked and why it worked, letting you apply that to the current day video game climate and expanding on a pre-existing popular concept or creating something entirely revolutionary. Finally, we dove into ethical responsibilities and guidelines, which are an important factor to consider when developing a video game. “Who’s it for? Is it appropriate? Is it too much?” are all vital questions to be asked when conceptualizing a game and choosing a targeted fanbase. Not only are these responsibilities important in the released product but also in the backend, with how to treat fellow employees and coworkers in a respectable manner. All of these topics are what tie into making a good game regardless of who’s it for and what genre, very important lessons for if we go to find a career in the video game industry in the future. This final unit of DDA we worked with cameras in depth for the first time. Although very brief, I learned quite a lot and found working with them interesting. We only did 2 actual assignments with the camera, both of which covered basic but fundamental things. The first of which was how different settings affected the appearance of your final product. The second was moving the camera around, and using different settings on the actual renderer to change the appearance. The first assignment was pretty easy to do, although I didn’t score the best on it, Idid see what did what by hand and not a website telling me. This is a pretty important thing to learn for when trying to make your 3d models appear good and well done. If you made a masterpiece but can’t see it properly for what is is, then it’s just another piece of art. The second assignment taught me that applying movement to a camera actually isn’t all that hard. All you have to do is attach it to a spline with certain tools and press play where it'll go along and follow the spline. Intriguing and interesting shots can be made by moving the camera in unique ways and chasing the target with the “target” part of the camera, that is, of course if you’re using a target camera. Although cameras do seem relatively easy to use as of now, I’m sure next year if I have the opportunity to join this class again we’ll work again with more complicated settings that yes, will be hard, but I will overcome and be able to use regularly. Just like the rest of the assignments this year, all thanks to Mr. B for teaching us in a way that’s hard at times, yes, but also enjoyable and engaging. Thank you for this great year!
We've been working on lighting for about 2 weeks now, and it's certainly been an interesting trip.
In my opinion, it's honestly very fun to work with, I've noticed it greatly improves the quality of the final rendered image. It's true that it really can change the mood however you want. Although at some times, it can be quite jarring to work with (if you want a very specific light set up) but if you only want to quickly place a light in a place, just simply put it, point it if you have to, and maybe change a few parameters. Even by simply putting a light and pointing it at a random assortment of models, (like the last few recent assignments have been) it looks great and almost indie video game level of quality. It is very fun to use lighting, in my opinion. Honestly, it has inspired me to want to make something not related to school in 3ds Max and give it whatever lighting I want, and have it look as good as possible, because it's simply that fun to use. I really look forward to using lighting for more advanced assignments and visually pleasing models. We've started using textures now for our assignments, and it was a lot easier than I expected (contrary to how late I submit the assignments). It is, however, a little time consuming at certain intervals. For my first assignment I made a simple box with the images we were already provided, and although in hindsight it was pretty simple, it did take me a bit to even understand what was going on. Once I finished the box, though, I got the hang of it and made my own texture with images from an old cardboard box for a part I got for my PC a while ago, Although I didn't show it (and regret not showing it) in the assignment itself, it had a clear section on the inside that I thought would be interesting to see in the 3d model, because it gave it a sense of depth and made it look hollow opposed to being just a basic box with some design on it. As easy as it was to make a texture with preexisting images, for my next assignment I have to make a custom soda can, which I'm still thinking (not quite struggling) about what to make the design (I'm not the best with custom logos). Although once I make one, I'm sure that it will be a breeze to model a simple cylinder with a few modifications and slap on the texture. I look forward to improving my skills in texturing models, just not making the textures.
I started on the mech project rather late... after its due date. It was definitely difficult to make time for it and try to solve problems while also having to deal with deadlines and other problems in life, but it was honestly an enjoyable experience in the end. I followed along the tutorial but always added my own spins on almost everything, either because I was struggling too much to replicate the process or because I found it more interesting the way I wanted. I loved using help from past tutorials to use on this one, because it felt like everything was finally coming together. There were definitely many struggles to overcome, like for example, instead of the front of the mech going back into the oval to create the illusion of a visor, it pushed the back segment of it down, making the visor stick out a little with a ridge in between. After a few minutes of hopelessly trying to fix it, I noticed it actually looks good if you do it to a certain degree, and I kept it that way. My next problem was something that was actually my fault. I did not add more segments to the face of the shape that made up the base of the leg, so instead I made an extremely basic star shape on the joint, and later when almost finishing the assignment I added a secondary polygon to compliment the joint and added the ring-like shape i was supposed to in the beginning. In the end, it was a pretty good looking joint. After that, I made the full leg with the mid joint and the foot, which was rather difficult considering the foot kept looking like an unappealing dome shape. I dragged a few vertex points up to add more definition to shape and surround the base leg a bit more. I was not extremely satisfied with the end result but it was good enough to the point where I could look at it and have it fit in. Last, I used the same steps from the Dice project to color the main oval shape black on the visor area and a forest green in the surrounding area. I colored it the same color scheme as a character from the Halo Franchise (favorite franchise) and rotated the legs to various positions for its photos.
A few weeks ago we started working on 3ds Max, an app used to create and animate 3d objects. Initially I was wary of the new format of everything but once I started on our assignment, Romantic Evening, I became very accustomed to it and in fact enjoyed working on it. It’s surprisingly simple, for example, to make a table, you: 1. Make half of the table shape with a line tool, 2. Put a modifier on it called “Lathe” and if i remember correctly, set it to center (or side), making your 2d line into a 3d object. It was also fun using the primitives in unique ways. An example of how I made a complex-ish object with a simple sphere is that I deleted the top half and a quarter, and flattened the bottom yet still kept the edges elevated just a tiny bit. This way, it retains the shape of a real plate instead of looking like a 2d circle. I also experimented with lighting, although it wasn't stated to use it, I decided to test it out anyway and it looked great on the table. And then for things like the chairs and candles, I used multiple primitives to create and as easy as it was it was satisfying nevertheless. To see a bundle of rectangles and squares be turned into a comfortable wooden chair truly is fulfilling. I hope I can use more 3ds Max in the future the same way we used it on romantic evenings. I hope to improve on this skill later in the year.
Over the summer break I’ve practiced a few art skills and improved upon them. Here i am going to talk about two of them.
My first skill was realism, if that counts as a skill. I've improved on making drawings seem real and actually possible in real life, although you can’t notice on my digital drawings (i have a lot of trouble drawing digitally) you can see on my one physical drawing all the little details. I plan on tracing that over in digital to give it a cleaner yet still sketchy look. I’m still currently practicing on drawing more plants and scenery but I am happy with my current skill in the area. I hope to be able to draw lifelike drawings soon, which i can only achieve through practice. My second skill was Anatomy. I only recently started drawing full bodies (about a week or two ago) but with the help of certain people I was able to improve on it. Although it’s not exactly easy to draw full bodies I have found it to be much more simple now and I can do it significantly faster than i used to be able to. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to show how I improved in my portfolio since I still am struggling with drawing on digital like I used to. Proportions have become very simple to memorize and draw correctly, and the “skeleton” or basis of the body is a lot more easy to draw meaning I can make the actual body easier to make. I hope that I’m able to improve on this skill throughout the year, despite probably not having to use it for 3D work. What excites me about GAD this year is that I’m finally able to do 3D art, although it’ll be incredibly difficult until I finally get my own powerful PC, I still think it will be fun to learn. I was nervous about online school especially with this class considering both PC’s I’ available to use are a few years old and can’t handle too much (I have yet to acquire a chromebook), I’m still hopeful I will be able to do these arts with a newly built PC soon. I'm happy I stayed in this class and hope for another year of fun with you. (P.S, I know that these were supposed to be 3 different posts, but instead I’ll do one since I was only now able to use this laptop and time isn’t exactly on my side.) Over the summer break I’ve practiced a few art skills and improved upon them. Here i am going to talk about two of them. My first skill was realism, if that counts as a skill. I've improved on making drawings seem real and actually possible in real life, although you can’t notice on my digital drawings (i have a lot of trouble drawing digitally) you can see on my one physical drawing all the little details. I plan on tracing that over in digital to give it a cleaner yet still sketchy look. I’m still currently practicing on drawing more plants and scenery but I am happy with my current skill in the area. I hope to be able to draw lifelike drawings soon, which i can only achieve through practice. My second skill was Anatomy. I only recently started drawing full bodies (about a week or two ago) but with the help of certain people I was able to improve on it. Although it’s not exactly easy to draw full bodies I have found it to be much more simple now and I can do it significantly faster than i used to be able to. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to show how I improved in my portfolio since I still am struggling with drawing on digital like I used to. Proportions have become very simple to memorize and draw correctly, and the “skeleton” or basis of the body is a lot more easy to draw meaning I can make the actual body easier to make. I hope that I’m able to improve on this skill throughout the year, despite probably not having to use it for 3D work. What excites me about GAD this year is that I’m finally able to do 3D art, although it’ll be incredibly difficult until I finally get my own powerful PC, I still think it will be fun to learn. I was nervous about online school especially with this class considering both PC’s I’ available to use are a few years old and can’t handle too much (I have yet to acquire a chromebook), I’m still hopeful I will be able to do these arts with a newly built PC soon. I'm happy I stayed in this class and hope for another year of fun with you. (P.S, I know that these were supposed to be 3 different posts, but instead I’ll do one since I was only now able to use this laptop and time isn’t exactly on my side.) For the past few weeks, we have been locked inside due to COVID-19 and have been unable to go to school. Even though we aren't able to go to school though, we still must do our work online. This has raised a few problems for students and teachers alike. For example, some teachers may not know how to use these digital tools correctly or struggle to, or some students may not have the necessary tools for online classes. Unfortunately, the latter is a problem for me, as things like Adobe will not work for me, and my very slow pc does not like to work with me AND Adobe. For the first few weeks everything worked well, Adobe worked and my pc abided. However, once I got the next assignment after what we were given I had run out of exports for Adobe, even though I followed the instructions for acquiring the Adobe apps we needed. I knew I should've messages something about that but I've just been bombarded with work this whole month and to be totally honest, I didn't want to do anything related to Adobe the entire time. However this next Quarter I will change that, and I will keep up with the work that I can. I've learned my lesson that waiting last minute is a disaster waiting to happen, and will try to work ahead of time.
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My name is Mario, and am currently studying Digital Design and Game Art in DSA. This is my class blog Archives
January 2023
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The views and opinions expressed in this blog are solely those of the author and do not represent those of Durham School of the Arts or Durham Public Schools.
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